HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The sperm of a New York mobster is the subject of a court battle between the government and his wife, who helped bribe a guard to smuggle the fluid out of the prison where her husband is doing time.
The government impounded the frozen sperm in 2000 at the office of Maria Parlavecchio's gynecologist in New York City and has refused to release it.
"It's fruits of the crime," federal prosecutor Wayne P. Samuelson said Monday. "It's contraband."
Ms. Parlavecchio contends that the sperm is not an illegal substance and that it is not against the law to possess it, despite the illegal methods used to remove it from the minimum-security Allenwood Federal Prison in Pennsylvania. She is demanding the government release it.
If the government gets its way, the sperm will probably be destroyed.
Ms. Parlavecchio's husband, Antonino, was sentenced in 1992 to 14 years in prison for racketeering and other charges. His 38-year-old wife, who is childless, wants to use his sperm to get pregnant.
Both pleaded guilty in the sperm-smuggling case. He got an additional six months; she received a year of probation.
The dispute comes as federal prosecutors continue to unravel a slew of smuggling operations at Allenwood. At least 11 guards, prisoners, former inmates and others have been charged.
While Genoa salami, romano cheese and other creature comforts were smuggled into the prison, Samuelson would not comment on whether the Parlavecchios were the only ones to take sperm out.
The sperm was smuggled out more than three times over a two-year period beginning in 1998, with a guard getting about $200 to $300 per trip, prosecutors said.
In court papers, the Parlavecchios' attorney, Eugene P. Tinari, argued: "While it can be said that the money used to bribe the correctional officer is derivative contraband ... the same cannot be said of the seminal fluids."
He asked the court to allow Ms. Parlavecchio "the chance to conceive a child, to create a life, to become a mother, and to have and enjoy the companionship and love of a son or daughter."
2002-02-12 17:34:05 GMT